Up in Smoke (1978)

Now here's a good time thats not waiting to happened. Their off and running, my two favorite stoner's, Pedro and the man, on the first and most fun of their adventures together. For the reference sake, these two should and probably did 'Win' awards for this full firing token express moving toward 'band' greatness! Getting ready for F.M. radio and plenty of women!!! But first they got to make it over to Strawberry's place, so they can score some mean smoke, man.

Strawberry (Tom Skarrett ) was a strange dude himself, you know? He just needed to be a little more mellow, for sure. But the real up-tight dude was that policeman guy, Sgt. Stedankko. His brave crew of ' rookies ' by his side looking and looking all over for those out landish dope fiend's.

They hardly work and when they do it's almost disastrous! But at least they are good at their jobs, getting' high, by the wayside. Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin made everyone enjoy the hippie and Mexican experience. Since Dave's not ever home anyway, these two are out on a road trip to nowhere, via or should we say 'Viva' Mexico! Upholstry has a 'hole' new line of business now, with our fearless, but somewhat freaked-out pot heads in the driver's seat. Chong isn't going to stay and live off his mom and dad anymore...-because he can't, they have kicked him out after him defying every last job offer they have made to him. And as far as Pedro is concerned he's just a hard working' guy living with relatives sleeping on the couch. But again, now Pedro is the Man with that 'heavy' Chevy impala with custom etching on the side window, just behind his head. And they could cruise all day Tom, that is if they aren't parked on the side of the road, wasted and small-eyed laughing at each-others wacky antics. All in everything, these two may make it yet, with a little help from the last whole brain cell. that together they possess. This is off the wall and crazed fun, one of the funniest I've ever seen... They have a 'crack' team of officers following and surveying them. "Follow the freak, the freak with the basketball. Which basketball??" And let's face another fact, the cops have just not been this fun in a long time.

Recommended for comedic pleasure, of the far-out, tune in mellow out then laugh, till you gag, then get the munchies and do it all over kind of time. (***)

Thx--IMDb.com

Fmovies: Basically all Up in Smoke movies are about watching other people getting high, actually all the drug comedies are about that. It sounds kinda boring, but not when those people are Cheech & Chong. The scene where they were smoking in a car in the beginning is still funny to me, though I watched it many times. This movie is making fun more from the cops and other people who fight drugs, than from the drug addicts who just want to get high. This film shows how ridiculous those fighters against drugs look like, though this is a comedy, in my opinion, there is a lot of truth in this film. Maybe other Up in Smoke movies aren't that good as this one, but as I remember there is always at least few hilarious moments.

Up in Smoke (1978) was the comic team of Cheech and Chong's big screen debut. After selling a ton of albums during the early and mid-seventies, the duo finally got a chance to star in their own picture. Anthony "Man" Stoner (Tommy Chong) is a rich kid who's still living the hippie life and enjoys pot. Pedro De Pacas (Cheech Marin) is a kid from East L.A. who's into three things: gaudy car upholstery, rock music and finding smoke. This would be the first of several movies starring these two characters (or different variations of them).

Anthony Stoner leaves his rich parents house after a falling out over getting a job. His car breaks down near the ocean. But his savior arrives in the form of Pedro De Pacas. Pedro is cruising for girls when he meets Anthony. Th two strike up a friendship and the movie goes off in several different and bizarre directions. What kind of adventures do Anthony and Pedro get into? You'll just have to find out for yourself when you watch UP IN SMOKE.

A funny film that'll keep you laughing from beginning to end. Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin play the ultimate slackers. All they want to do is partying and smoke a lot of dope. This movie was followed by several sequels.

Highly recommended.

Up in Smoke fmovies. When this first came out in the theaters I passed on seeing it as it seemed like Cheech and Chong's time had come and went. I was a big fan of their comedy albums of the early and mid 70's but the movie version of their act would have been logical then but by 1978 it's time had past. Of those who did see this in the theater I couldn't get a proper read on a critical review since I could find no one who saw it in a theater that wasn't high when they went. A year or two after it came out it showed up on one of the cable movie channels and I was expecting a typical movie that takes a funny five minute skit and stretches it out to a painful non-funny 90 minutes. Director Lou Adler had never directed a movie before. He had produced the documentary rock film Monetery Pop and the cult classic Rocky Horror Picture Show and Robert Altman's quirky Brewster McCloud but he was Pop music entrepreneur as a music producer, publisher, manager and record company founder. He would only direct one other film which is too bad because with his industry connections and reputation and his natural feel for talent and getting the best out of talent being a director worked very well for him as with the help of Cheech and Chong he turned out a very very funny movie with Up in Smoke. The counter-culture stoner comedy duo take a simple theme for a story outline but the great comedic timing and sight gags and fast pacing and an their inventive approach at film making takes what should have been a low budget stoner comedy to the next level of lasting cinematic comedy. Like a Marx Brothers or WC Fields or Charlie Chaplin comedy this movie has lasting power to entertain generations. Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong star in the first of series of funny movies from the duo. A strong character cast includes Strother Martin, Stacy Keetch, Tom Skerritt and Edie Adams. Look for Gary Muledeer and Ellen Barkin too. This movie had such broad appeal that some of the most red neck, anti-counter-culture, anti-hippy/freak/doper people I have ever ever known loved it. I would give this a 9.0 out of 10.

The counterculture was long dead and ripe for retrospective satire. Into the opportunity stepped two pro comics who after trying other things, built these characters. When comics work up a world for years and then brings it to a movie, it bodes well. Mike Myers would follow almost precisely this formula later with "Wayne's World."

The jokes are still pretty funny, many of them. Not the stuff with the flumoxxed cops or the folks who inadvertently get stoned (and get the munchies). But the bits of comic timing associated with the guys as if they were on stage.

Two bits to watch out for. One is two incidental women. The first has a scene only a minute long. A girl comes in, mistakes scouring powder for coke, snuffs it up and has the most comic facial expressions I have even seen on film. This is one of those priceless moments in film. I hope IMDb at some point figures out some means to vote on particular scenes. This girl would in life become an addict and a bag lady.

The second girl has a bigger role: Zane Buzby is one of the hippie stoner cheesecake babes that join the trip. She's got a less flashy role, but in ad libs created most of the situations in which she appears. She would go on to become one of TeeVee's most attuned comedy directors.

So you can see this as two stage personalities that are good, with these two women, who are also as good, surrounded by some disposable situations and jokes.

But there is another something interesting. The end of this comic show is a comic show within, the guys as a rock band in possibly the best Cheech and Chong sequence of all their movies. Everything from about 20 minutes into the film to this is a journey to this show, I suspect that "The Muppet Movie" of the following year was influenced by this.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

This one of the movies I never get tired to see, it gets better for every time I see it. There are a lot of enjoyable characters, like Anthony Stoner, Strawberry, Harry, Stedenko, Jade East, The Ajax Lady and of course The Man and Pedro, you name it, the whole cast is excellent and there is great chemestry between the characters. There is also a great rhythm and great music in the movie. Sadly it`s seldom that this kind of movies are being made to day.